Typography for children may be inappropriately designed

TLDR

The study examines how typeface size and design affect reading speed, comprehension, and attainment in children aged 7–9. The authors used three experiments: comparing comprehension speed with Arial fonts of 4.2 mm versus 5.0 mm x‑height, measuring reading age on the Salford Sentence Reading Test with constant versus decreasing font size, and contrasting Sassoon Primary with Verdana for reading speed and search efficiency. The larger typeface improved comprehension speed by 9 %, increased measured reading age by four months, and the Verdana font was read and searched faster than Sassoon Primary.

Abstract

We present four studies indicating that the size and design of the typeface in textual material for children aged 7–9 may impair speed of reading and comprehension, and measurement of reading attainment. The first study compared the speed with which sample sentences were comprehended. The sentences were printed in Arial font with an x‐height of 4.2 or 5.0 mm. The sentences were verified 9% more quickly when presented in the larger typeface. The second study compared reading age on the Salford Sentence Reading Test when the typeface remained at the initial size (x‐height 3.3 mm) throughout the test, and when it decreased in size as usual. The average reading age measured with the larger font was 4 months older. The final studies compared the font Sassoon Primary with the font Verdana and showed that Verdana was read and searched more quickly.